The Worst Nightmare
by ArbitraryRenaissance
Summary: On a calm evening, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps visit the jail to let former mayor Lionheart know that they're going to set him free. But when the topic of biology is brought up, Nick is left wondering just how much of a role animal instincts still play in society. An introspective slice-of-life. I hope you enjoy it.
Upon the wide streets of Savanna Central and beneath the late afternoon sky, Nicholas Wilde walked alongside his partner, Judy Hopps.

Hopps was drinking from a cup of chai tea that she ordered from a nearby café, and Nick caught wind of the strong smell that it emitted. "There's something a bit odd about that tea," he said as they stepped onto a cobblestone bridge which pointed them to the town hall and its neighboring building, the Savanna Central jail. "It smells wonderful, but it also smells like it would taste terrible."

"That's actually how I felt about it when I first tried it," Hopps responded. "But the taste grows on you."

"Eh, speak for yourself. I'm perfectly content taking advantage of its lovely aroma as I walk beside you." Nick covered up a yawn with the back of his hand. He had a sleepless and anxious night and found himself low on energy for most of the day. Unfortunately for him, his tiredness was being paired with a calm, relaxing stroll through the city during a fairly quiet hour of the day, adding salt to his sleepy, weary wound. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the city lit by the evening sky, trying to think of something else to occupy his mind. This part of the city was close to where he grew up, and seeing it once again brought back a handful of childhood memories. "Oh, hey, Carrots," he said, "there's a place near here that I want to show you one of these days. A personal favorite location of mine."

"If it's that veggie burger joint you always go to on your way to work, then I'll save you the trouble and let you know right now that I'm not interested," Judy replied with a playful, assertive grin.

"Oh, come on! You'd love the food there. Y'know, I swear I can taste carrots in those burgers. Heck, I'd even be a gentleman and make it my treat." Nick looked towards the sunlight, watching as the sun hid itself beneath the looming towers of Zootopia. "Anyway, that wasn't the place I was talking about. I'm talking about the only spot in the whole of downtown Zootopia where you can actually watch the sun set below the horizon."

Judy tapped a paw on her chin and said, "Well, I _think_ I can do that on the roof of my apartment building, but I'll take it—"

"—That's cheating!" Nick interrupted with a wave of his paw. "Okay, maybe it's not the _only_ spot, but it certainly is the _best_ spot. The way the sky lights up above the city, with the sun setting right over the…well, you'll see it when you see it. You'll be left breathless by its beauty, Carrots, I promise."

"Alright, alright, Mr. Romantic, you've convinced me."

"That's the spirit! Tell you what: I'll show it to you on the next clear sky when we're both free." By then, they were both at the jail's entrance. Nick opened the large door and gestured Judy forward. "Okay, now let's get going; we've got a prisoner to see."

The inside greeted them with a main room that Nick always found peculiarly welcoming. During his early days as a con-artist, he would find himself being dragged along this room by the fur of his shoulders at least once or twice a year. And on those unfortunate days, the only thing he could think to do was admire the lovely design of the decorative carpet and the symmetrical layout of the ceiling lights and sofas as he was sent through the forthcoming metal bars. The place hardly changed since those days. In retrospect, it surprised even himself that the same young fox who was already secretly waist high in tax evasions, bribes, and (albeit incredibly well-executed) hussles would once again walk along that same decorative carpet 17 years later as an officer of the law.

As Nick re-admired the scenery around him, Judy tossed her empty cup in a nearby trash bin and walked up to the entrance desk, showing her badge to the capybara who stood by the gate separating the entrance room from the jail cells. "Officer Judy Hopps and Officer Nicholas Wilde, ZPD. We've scheduled a visit with Mr. Leodore Lionheart."

Nick approached the gate as well, exposing his own badge for formality's sake. The guard, however, paid him little attention and instead focused on some records that he hid behind his desk. A few seconds later, he pressed a button and the gate beside him opened up. "Cell 210," he said nonchalantly. "Fifth door to the left on the basement floor. It'll be the one with a green light over it."

"Thank you," Judy replied before briskly entering through the gate. Nick followed along close behind her.

The corridor that followed was as dreary as Nick remembered. Counter to the welcoming and decorative room that was now behind them, this room was simple and monotone. The floor and ceiling was composed of a dull, white tiling, and the walls matched them with the same color. The hallway was lit with bright fluorescent lights which hung from the ceiling, accompanied by dim red lights which rested above each and every door. There were several doors, as well. Each one was windowless, and made of the same material as the surrounding walls. Or at least, they were painted the same off-white color as the rest of the corridor, making them all look the same. The first door was labelled "Cell 101," and by the time the two reached the stairs at the end, the last door on the left was labelled "Cell 142."

On the floor below, the green light above cell 210 made the door they were after clear as day. Nick felt no reason to wait around in the hallway, and promptly went to the door and opened it.

"Mr. Mayor Leodore Lionheart!" Nick said as he entered the room and looked around. It was separated into two sections: the jail cell and a strip of walking space that Nick found himself within upon entering. The former mayor was sitting quietly on his bed, looking curiously at the fox who just entered. "Wow, look at this," Nick continued. "You've got a whole room to yourself, and ooh! those walls seem pretty soundproof. Y'know, I _thought_ I'd see some actual bars in this jail. I was wondering where they were all hiding. The cell seems a little bit small for such a big fellow like yourself, but hey, aside from that, it all seems pretty nice. How're ya holding up?"

Mr. Lionheart stayed silent for a moment before simply saying, "I suppose it gets a bit lonely."

"Ha! Trust me, Lionheart, you wouldn't like your inmates and they wouldn't like you. Anyway, you know Officer Judy Hopps, my partner: the one who arrested you and got you locked up in here in the first place: but I don't think I've formally introduced myself to you." Nick extended an open hand through the bars. "Officer Nicholas Wilde, ZPD. But feel free to call me something more creative if you want."

Lionheart stood up and shook Nick's hand. "Ah, so you're on the force as well?" he asked.

"Well, I wasn't the last time we met, but let's just say that these past several months have been quite eventful. Now! we didn't just come here to say, 'Hi.' As it turns out, we've got some very good news for you. Out of the good of our hearts, Hopps and I have managed to shed your prison time down to a whopping zero years!"

The lion's face lit up after hearing that. "Are you serious?" he asked. "How'd you manage to do that?"

"We made an appeal," Judy interjected. "For some reason, Nick and I were left out of the loop with your upcoming trial. We didn't actually hear about it until…it was too late."

"And seriously," Nick continued as he took a seat on the bench that extended out from the wall, "25 years in prison? There's no way we would've allowed that if we were asked to testify in court. So, what Carrots and I did was we gathered up some more evidence and prepared a case for the court of appeals."

"And the court heard it?" Lionheart asked.

"Well…not yet," Judy said. "But we've got a really strong case. You see, you were found guilty of second degree kidnapping on fourteen separate accounts. Fourteen class B felonies makes for a pretty lengthy prison sentence, but we can probably get all of those charges dropped due to a certain thing called justification. Article 35 of Zootopia Penal Law has a lot of talk about the justification of crimes, and a _certain_ section of it, namely section 15, says that 'a person may use physical force against another person when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary for the defense of himself or herself, _or_ of a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of a greater initiation of physical force by such other person.' You reasonably believed that imprisoning those people was preventing greater crimes from being committed, right mayor?"

"Yes, of course," Lionheart responded.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about!" Nick said. "Hopps and I are witnesses; you were only trying to find a cure for those poor, deranged creatures. And even when your assistant began suggesting that _biology_ was to blame, you stood up for us predators and told her that she was wrong. Having you in here right now is an injustice in and of itself."

Lionheart said, "I never said she was—"

"—The _nerve_ of that Dr. Honey Badger!" Nick continued, ignoring Lionheart's correction. "Let me tell you, Leo, I was _surprised_ to hear a fellow predator say that we were reverting back to our 'savage' ways. I don't blame you for lashing out at her like that."

"Dr. Badger was right," Lionheart said coldly.

Nick had a smirk on his face when Lionheart said that, but it quickly melted away after he heard those words.

Judy filled in for Nick, who was left speechless and thoughtless by Lionheart's comment. "Actually," she said, "didn't you already hear about this? The people you detained went savage because—"

"—Because of the night howler, I know," Lionheart said. "But that doesn't mean Badger didn't have a point." He sat back down on his bed and shook his head. "I only disagreed with her because I was worried about saving my skin."

"Wait, wait, hold on a second," Nick said, standing up and approaching the bars that separated them. "You mean to tell me that you actually _believe_ predators are reverting back to their 'wild side?'"

"I believe our wild side never went away, sir. Dr. Badger has spent years studying the differences between predator and prey in our society, and she's made it clear that the two groups are not as similar as we like to believe."

"Well, duh. But do you know what _I've_ spent years doing? Walking the streets of Zootopia and interacting with its inhabitants," Nick responded. "And let me tell you: it's not a common occurrence to see predators suddenly going savage and attacking others."

"Look at the bigger picture, Officer. 90% of predators have admitted that they were curious about the taste of flesh at some point in their lives, 25% have seriously considered trying it, and 4% actually have. They have the highest tempers and commit a majority of violent crimes despite being a minority of the population. And don't think that predators are the only ones who are guilty of falling sway to their instincts. Every time you step on a bus full of prey, you can see their blood pressure rising. Mothers coddle their kids tighter. They all scoot away from you if you sit close enough. Everyone suddenly stops talking. Society doesn't replace our biology; it just hides it. Our sentient minds are always accompanied by a louder and more commanding primitive mind."

"Oh, come on, don't you think that's a bit shallow?" Nick asked. "Look at you: you were once the city's mayor. Look at me and Carrots: we're the most respected police officers in the force. I don't think that we need this reality check. What, do you think we're just distracting ourselves from who we really are by doing this? I mean, yeah, everybody has their differences, but it's not like we're animals anymore. It's not like not enemies. Deep down, we're all the same."

"No, deep down, we're all _very_ different!" Lionheart stood back up. "I want you to recall the conspiracy concocted by Bellwether. Do you think her plans to overthrow the predators were on account of the way she was raised, or because of her biological fear of predators? Oh, and I can assure you, Bellwether isn't going to be the last person with those ideas. Animal nature is something that will not go away. The longer you continue to deny that it still exists, the longer you will contribute to the growing problem that it's become."

"The growing problem?" Nick said, growing more and more shocked at the assertions he was making. "Lionheart, we've been evolved for tens of thousands of years. How is our biology going to remain a serious problem? Do you seriously think that the predators or the prey are going to coalesce and try and take the other group out?"

"If enough of us continue to pretend that our primitive minds don't exist anymore, then yes: I think that could definitely happen. As a matter of fact, Bellwether came very close to successfully doing just that. Our intelligent minds have not freed us, Officer. We are still enslaved by our animalistic nature, and we're going to have to live with it."

Nick shook his head in disappointment. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from you," he said. "What happened to the mayor who coined the phrase, 'In Zootopia, anyone can be anything?'"

"Anyone _can_ be anything, but everyone only ends up becoming what their heart tells them to be," Lionheart said. He walked up to the edge of his cell and glared at the two officers. "We can dress up in our suits and uniforms and play whatever role we want. We'll purchase bug burgers and ride the train and build a city and embrace the culture we've constructed. But that will _never_ change the fact we're animals with unavoidable animal instincts. Hopps will always be a scared little rabbit, I will always be a bloodthirsty lion, and _you_ will always a vicious and arrogant fox, feared by everyone around you and savage to them in turn!"

Nick clenched his fists and his teeth. But refraining from raising his voice, he calmly responded, "Tomorrow, we're going to make your case in the court of appeals and you are going to be set free. And when you finally walk the streets of Zootopia again, I hope you realize just how wrong you are." He started walking towards the door, in order to keep Lionheart from seeing that he got to him. "Try not to eat the first gazelle that you see when you're let go."

As he left cell 210 and entered the long corridor of the prison's basement, a flurry of thoughts bombarded him. _What the heck is that guy thinking?_ he thought. _Predators are still savage and prey are still timid? I'm living proof that he's wrong. Look at everything I've done! I've become a police officer. I've saved lives. I've befriended a rabbit. I'm not a savage. I'm not bloodthirsty. I'm not…._ He looked at his hands to verify his own personal assessment. His claws were trimmed and blunted. He always kept them at a short and safe length so that he wouldn't accidentally hurt anybody if he lost his temper. _I'm not…._

Emotion got the best of him, and he found tears forming in his eyes. The door to cell 210 closed, and Nick turned away from it, temporarily hiding his face from his partner. "Well," Hopps said from behind him, "that was an interesting—hey, woah, what's going on? Nick…are you crying?"

 _Why did I think that was going to save me any time?_ Nick sighed quietly to himself and wiped his eyes with his arm. "Well, would you look at that. I guess I am," he responded as he looked at his sleeve.

"Man, why are you foxes are always so emotional?" she asked quietly. She put a hand on his shoulder. Nick turned to face her, preparing to make some tongue-and-cheek comeback that would hopefully steer the upcoming conversation in a different direction, but her wide and sympathetic purple eyes caused him to hold his tongue. "Let's sit down real quick, okay? Let me know what's going through your mind."

Nick sighed again, this time more audibly. "Okay," he simply said before leaning against the wall and collapsing into a seated position. Judy sat down beside him and turned her ears towards him. "I, uh…I had a really bad dream last night," he continued. "Do you remember, back when we were cracking the night howler case, and we were running through the history museum, and you injured your leg, and we fell into the pit, and Bellwether shot me with the serum?"

Judy giggled. "Yeah. You played a pretty convincing role. If I wasn't certain that we switched out every last pellet, I probably would have believed that you turned."

Nick didn't smile in return. He simply looked at the opposite side of the wall in recollection and said, "Yeah, well…all of that happened in my dream, but this time, I…was a bit _too_ convincing. I knew that it was all an act, and that I wasn't actually going to hurt you, but…right before I was about to deliver the 'final blow,' I, uh…I accidentally bit down too hard on your neck. I heard something snap, and I felt something tear, and I…I felt…I tasted…." His eyes started welling up again.

"I understand," Hopps said solemnly. "You must've felt terrible."

"But I didn't!" Nick responded, fighting against the quiver in his throat that threatened to waver his voice. "I desperately wanted to. A part of my mind was screaming, telling my body, 'What have you done? What have you done? You didn't mean to do that! Maybe you can still save her; just let her go.' But that was only a small, fading sliver of my mind saying that. The rest of my mind…the only thought that was controlling my actions was…." He paused for a second, trying to gain the confidence to say the next words. "Was how delicious your blood tasted. And how much more of it I wanted."

Nick didn't have the vision to see Judy's reaction when he said this, but he could make a couple of guesses for what it was. Maybe she suddenly felt frightened of him, knowing now that such a gentle fox still had such gruesome thoughts in his mind. Perhaps he never should have scolded her for carrying around that fox repellant: in that moment, he _wanted_ her to have it. Of course, maybe she still had a strong sense of sympathy for him. Hopps was usually able to tell when he felt bad about doing or saying something, and while immediately forgiving him didn't seem like the smartest idea to him, it was probably what she did.

Nick sighed and continued, "The uh…the dream continued, but I…I don't really want to talk about what happened next…. When I woke up, I was so shaken. So upset. I even ran to the bathroom just to make sure there wasn't blood all over my face. And when I crawled back into my bed, I didn't want to go back to sleep. That was the worst nightmare I've ever had in my entire life, and I wasn't ready to have it again."

Judy stayed silent for a moment as they both sat, side by side, staring at the opposite wall. Nick's mind continued swimming with thoughts and emotions. He spent so much of the day worrying about what Judy might think of this dream that he never bothered to consider what _he_ ought to think of it. Of course, he knew that… _that_ wasn't him. Ever since he joined the police force, he wanted to protect the city, not harm it. And he _especially_ never wanted to hurt Judy. He spent so much time fighting against the stereotypes and names constantly being thrown at him, and he _knew_ that he wasn't a sleazy, maniacal fox that everybody thought he was. At least, not anymore. But now, even his own brain was challenging him, and after hearing what Lionheart said, he couldn't help but consider that maybe they aren't just stereotypes. Maybe all the horrible things that they say about foxes are genuine traits that he always internally had, and it would only be a matter of time before they manifested themselves in the form of actions.

He was about to stand up and start walking back home when Judy softly spoke. "I had a similar dream a few months ago. Same setting, actually: in the pit of the history museum, busted leg, you were pretending to be savage. But the only difference was that after I saw you tear up the fake animal…I felt something inside of me. I stared at your not-really-feral eyes, and I suddenly grew…passionately afraid. I seriously thought that I was going to die if I didn't get away from you as fast as possible. So immediately, I tried running, but of course my leg was torn up, so I just kept on collapsing over myself. In the end, I backed myself up against the wall and watched in terror as you approached me on all four legs. And all I could think of aside from, 'oh, sweet cheese and crackers; this is the end for me,' was: 'why on Earth did I think it was a good idea to trust this fox in the first place?' And then I think I woke up at around there. My heart was pounding and I felt terrible."

Nick looked over at Judy, feeling an odd combination of agitation and confusion. "Carrots, I have to wonder: is that supposed to make me feel any better?"

"Nick, you know that I'd never _actually_ be afraid of you," Judy said with a chuckle. "The reason I felt so terrible when I woke up was that I knew that I trusted you. But in that moment, I didn't. Our mind likes to play tricks on us like that, I guess. And hey, maybe Lionheart did have a point when he said that biology is still affects us. But as long as we know who we are, and we know who we want to be, I don't think I'll ever need to worry about you ripping at my throat any time soon. And I don't think you should be worried either."

Nick smiled and rubbed the top of Judy's head. "Thanks, Fluff."

"Now, let's get out of here." Hopps stood up and stretched. "We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

As she headed towards the door to the stairs, Nick rose to his feet and promptly caught up with her. Together, they made their way out of the jail and walked back into the streets of the city. The sky was now beginning to darken, and the whole ground was covered by the long shadows of the surrounding buildings. Nick breathed in the outdoor air and felt the warm breeze caress his skin. It gave him an idea. "Hey, Carrots, do you mind if we take a more scenic route back home? This is my favorite time of day, and it's quite nice out."

"Yeah, sure," Judy replied. "Lead the way."

And so, Nick went down the path he internally crafted in his mind, paying attention to the sky and the houses as he did so. He thought about everybody living in each of those buildings. Predators and prey alike lived harmoniously; perhaps befriending one another, and perhaps simply tolerating one another. But in either case, it reminded Nick of the true beauty that Zootopia had to offer. Despite what he once thought, Nick knew that Zootopia's great motto still held: each of those creatures living around him could be anything that they wanted. If a wombat wanted to be a movie director, then nothing would stop him. If a cheetah wanted to be an actuary, then more power to her. If a fennec wanted to be an elephant, then…well, he might have some complications there. And if a fox wanted to be an officer of the law, then it would certainly be in his grasp. He silently wished that those around him had the strength to end up living the lives that they wanted to live—not the lives that others expected of them. And if not, he wished that someone might come along in their lives and help point them in the right direction.

As they turned a corner, the structure Nick was looking for came into sight: a large playground, fit for children of all sizes. Its official name was the _Savanna Central Grand Play Park_ , and it had a footprint of about 40,000 square feet. The centermost structure took up much of the playground. It was a castle-like construction, with many towers standing dozens of feet high. Surrounding the peaks were bridges, walls, ladders, stairs, and slides of all shapes and sizes. Around the entire figure were other typical playground items: a swing set rested in one corner, a row of see-saws in another, a merry-go-round on a third, and a big system of long plastic tubes for small rodents along the fourth. Elsewhere, there were yet other pieces of equipment. Nick saw some spring riders, jungle gyms, and open slides among other things that were scattered about the area.

As Nick stepped foot on the rubber chunk surfacing that marked the entrance to the playground, he heard Judy say, "Uh, where are you going, Nick?"

"I told you," he responded, "I'm taking a scenic route. Come on; you don't want to fall too far behind."

"Huh…. Pretty scenic."

"Yeah," Nick said as he began climbing up a set of stairs that would bring him to one of the highest towers in the entire playground. "I used to come here all the time as a kid. I loved playing around in the spots that were clearly too big for me. I'd spend all day climbing this monstrosity, trying to get to the roof of the highest tower. One day, I actually managed to climb up to it, and let me tell you: I felt like a king. From that moment onward, getting to the top was a piece of cake."

"You mean to the _very_ top? Aren't you like, not supposed to be able to climb onto those roofs?" Judy asked.

"Of course! What, you think that would stop me? I mean, it did make it a bit challenging to get down the first time around, but I figured it out relatively painlessly. That ended up becoming my secret thinking spot. Sometimes, I'd even sneak out of the house when it was late and go to it." Nick climbed up the last stair and turned to find the very high point he was talking about. The peak of the conic roof still stood about ten feet higher than where he was standing; it was just as big and regal as he remembered it in his youth, with a simple bridge separating him from it.

"You managed to climb up _that_ as a kid?" Judy asked, baffled.

"Yup," Nick responded with a prideful smile as he walked onto the bridge and advanced over to it. "Step one: climb onto the bridge's guard rail. Step two: get a good grip on one of the protrusions on the roof. Step three—and this was the tough part: jump up and grab another protrusion higher up on the roof. From there, if you're strong enough, you can pull yourself up. You can probably still see some scratch marks from my failed attempts."

"Impressive. And pretty dangerous, considering we're about fifty feet off the ground."

"Yup." Nick stopped halfway across the bridge and looked at the ceiling of the tower. "But that just made it more satisfying when I succeeded." He turned around and faced Judy, who was still following closely behind him. "Hey, Hopps, could you do me a favor and look over to your left?" he asked with a grin, gesturing his head in the specified direction.

Slowly, Judy did as he asked, turning her head in the direction of the sunset. It took her a second to see it, but when she did, her expression was absolutely priceless. "Oh. Oh, wow…" she mumbled.

"Ain't it pretty?"

"It's so…red," she said. "I've never seen a sunset this saturated."

"You really gotta look for it here in the city," Nick said. He turned to face the sky as well. The yellow sun was centered low on a deep red sky that gradually grew darker and dimmer as it radiated away from the center. The big cityscape was drained to a pitch black silhouette against the colorful sky, and the surrounding ground was already darkening from the receding light. "And this, my dear Carrots, is the best place to watch it as it reaches the horizon."

"I can't believe I never noticed it before. What makes it so beautiful?" Judy asked.

"Pollution."

Judy winced in confusion. "Huh?"

"The Zootopia smog is so bad that it creates a thick atmosphere above the city, which causes more sunlight to get scattered," Nick explained. "The result is a big, red, beautiful sunset."

"Oh…. Gee, thanks for telling me," Judy said sarcastically. "Now I don't know how I should feel about it."

Nick shrugged. "Well, the way I see it, Zootopia is home to more than 40 million people. Unless if you end up banning cars or something, we're gonna have pollution here. The least you can do is find and appreciate the good stuff that comes out of it every now and again."

"Yeah, I guess that's a nice way to look at it," Judy said with a slight laugh. "Well, then, shall we dedicate this sunset to the things that we can't control that still make us happy every once in awhile?"

 _I knew there was a metaphor tucked away somewhere in there._ "Tell you what," Nick responded, turning to face Judy. "You tell me something you like about foxes, I'll tell you something I like about rabbits, and then we'll be happy that we can't control each other and call it a rejoice."

"Oh, that's easy!" Judy quickly said. "You foxes are always such smooth talkers. Even hillbilly Gideon Gray with his crazy rhotic accent managed to have quite the way with words. I can't help but think it's in your genes."

Nick smiled and said, "Why, I'm flattered, darling. And might I say that you bunnies have an impressive tendency to think quickly on your toes. The amount of times you've saved my hide because of that sharp mind of yours puts me to shame, especially considering that foxes are supposed to be the cunning ones."

"Quick thinkers, huh? How many rabbits have you met?"

"I've met enough. And most of them weren't nearly as friendly as you. Why? You think I'm wrong?"

"Nah, I guess I just wasn't expecting that from you."

Nick looked back at the sunset. "Well, I was going to say that I love how expressive and emotional you bunnies always are, but I don't think I'm in a position to say that after what just happened."

Hopps grabbed onto Nick's hand and faced the sky once again herself. "Be that as it may, I'm glad you decided to open up to me."

"Yeah, me too," Nick responded softly.

Silently, the two continued to watch the glowing sun recede into the distant lands beyond the horizon. As twilight entered the city of Zootopia, the colors of the sky began to fade, and the darkness of night would soon replace the radiant hue of the lingering sunlight.

"Hey, Nick," Judy said, breaking the short silence.

"Yes, Carrots?"

"I'm curious…. Mayor Lionheart said that 90% of predators were curious about what flesh tasted like. Now, I don't know if that number is accurate, but I want to know…are you one of them? I won't judge you if you are."

Nick didn't immediately know how to respond to that question, and even if he did, he wasn't sure if he wanted to honestly give her an answer. So instead, he opted for a different approach. "What, me?" he said dramatically. "No, I'd never!"

"Okay, okay. I was just—"

"—Why, are you buying?" he suddenly asked.

Judy blinked. "…What? N—"

"—Ooh, are you _offering?_ " Nick smiled wryly at Judy, bringing his face closer to her in a pseudo-aggressive manner. "Y'know, now that you mention it, that dream _did_ leave me wondering what rabbits actually tasted like."

"No, I'm not offering!" Judy said, taking a couple steps back.

"Aw, come on; I'll just take a nibble out of you. Why don't I just have a little taste?"

"Cut it out, Nick. It's not funn—"

Nick made a sudden advance towards Hopps and proceeded to obnoxiously kiss her on the cheek. When he retreated, he stared back at her, highly amused by her motionless and speechless expression. "Tastes like carrots and chai," he said before turning around and walking off to the playground's highest platform.

"Very classy," he heard Judy sarcastically say from behind him.

Nick laughed. "You know you liked it."

" _Do_ I know that?" Judy asked. "Yes. Yes I do."

The two went down a large slide that brought them straight to the ground, and from there, they continued their walk back home, sharing idle conversation with one another along the way. Judy found her way home first, and they wished each other a good night at the front of her apartment building's door. And so, upon the wide streets of Savanna Central and beneath the nighttime sky, Nicholas Wilde walked alone.

As he wandered down the street-lit road, Nick couldn't help but feel utterly contented with the way everything turned out today. When he was a kit, he learned that hundreds of thousands of years ago, biology and natural selection gave animals the instincts necessary to survive. When they grew civilized, biology and natural selection once again came in to eliminate the destructive instincts and replace them with better ones. Bloodlust got replaced with compassion and primitive fear got replaced with empathy. But he was never taught to consider the possibility that traces of these instincts still lingered. And indeed, maybe they did.

His mind fluttered one last time to all of the people living in the surrounding buildings, and to all of the people that lived beyond. He came to the simple conclusion that no matter who they were, and no matter whether or not biology really did play a role in each of their behaviors, the fact of the matter still held that they were who they were, and they were accountable for themselves. He didn't know if former Mayor Lionheart aspired to become a mayor because he, as a lion, had a primitive desire to be a leader; or if he simply got interested in politics when he was young. But he knew that it was what he wanted, and while cut a bit short, his success was an achievement that he could proudly claim for himself.

Nick wasn't certain about himself, either. Maybe his foxlike nature gave him the sleazy attitude necessary to pursue (and to an extent, enjoy) his old life of con-artistry, or maybe it was entirely because the world convinced him that he could only be what others saw him as. And maybe he ended up turning that life down for two reasons: firstly, to show the world that foxes _could_ , in fact, have a good heart; and secondly, to rebel against his fox-like nature that verified the stereotypes that were thrown at him. He honestly didn't know.

All he knew was that he was who he was, he could be what he wanted to be, and that he was happy where he stood.


End file.
